Debates of April 23rd, 2007

Afghanistan

[Peter MacKay, Conservative, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Minister of the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency]

Mr. Speaker, as has been stated a number of times already by both the Prime Minister and the Minister of National Defence, Canada does take its responsibilities very seriously. These allegations that have been published today have not been confirmed by the Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission.

We are looking into the issue. I fully intend to take this up with my counterpart. Other officials will be consulted as well. Canada will continue to do its best to see that definitively Afghan prisoners are not tortured nor abused.

[Francine Lalonde, Bloc, La Pointe-de-l'Île, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the minister cannot get out of this one because he is responsible for the application of international treaties. Other countries, the Netherlands in particular, have succeeded in ensuring the safety of prisoners. I would like to remind you that Canada is a signatory to the Geneva Convention against torture.

Will the minister undertake to do everything possible to stop the transfer of prisoners until he obtains an agreement with guarantees, like those the Netherlands has achieved, to monitor and have access to prisoners no matter where they are in Afghanistan?

[Peter MacKay, Conservative, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Minister of the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency]

Mr. Speaker, I said that the Government of Canada still intends to work with the other countries and participants in this agreement. Obviously we still need to research the information and consult with the other countries and other people, particularly those from the government of Afghanistan.

The Environment

[David McGuinty, Liberal, Ottawa South, ON]

Mr. Speaker, instead of moving forward on the fully funded 2005 climate change plan and keeping Canada on track to promote a strong low carbon economy and meet Kyoto, the Conservatives have systematically killed each and every single program.

On the heels of his Chicken Little report, does the minister think that Canadians are not intelligent enough to see through his shock and awe delay tactics? How much longer will he insist on employing doublespeak to mask 15 months of incompetent Conservative inaction?

[Mark Warawa, Conservative, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of the Environment]

Mr. Speaker, imagine that, a Liberal trying to make recommendations on the environment.

After 13 years of doing absolutely nothing, we now have a government that is moving forward, reducing greenhouse gas emissions and cleaning up the environment.

I have a very interesting quote. This is from the Commissioner of the Environment speaking about the Liberal Party. It says, “There is a gap between what the government said it would do and what it is actually doing”. Good intentions are not enough. We are getting it done.

[David McGuinty, Liberal, Ottawa South, ON]

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister promised Canadians that new air quality legislation would be part of his plan, and that the bill would be referred to a House committee in order to find consensus on what action to take. Today we learn that the Minister of the Environment has abandoned the air quality legislation because he did not like the way the House committee had amended it.

Why should Canadians believe that a real plan will be implemented when this government outright refuses to accept the recommendations of the committee that it supported?

[Mark Warawa, Conservative, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of the Environment]

Mr. Speaker, I would suggest maybe that member is a little frustrated because we are getting the job done.

He said that when Canadians find out what it is going to cost for their plan, they are going to scream. The Commissioner of the Environment said, “When it comes to protecting the environment, bold announcements are made and then often forgotten as soon as the confetti hits the ground”.

It was shameful what the Liberals did. We are getting the job done.

[Mark Holland, Liberal, Ajax—Pickering, ON]

Mr. Speaker, last week the government ran the entire Bush playbook, trying to scare Canadians into opposing Kyoto with torqued and distorted information.

Canadians do not need to be the Prime Minister's psychic to know that the environment minister's fearmongering was a diversion, an attempt to disguise the fact that the government does not have a plan to fight climate change and will not cap emissions until 2020.

When will the environment minister stop misleading Canadians and offer something more than just fear and repackaged programs?

[Mark Warawa, Conservative, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of the Environment]

Mr. Speaker, that was one of the questions that was asked of the sponsor of Bill C-288. We asked, what is the cost? Unfortunately, the Liberals would not bring the cost, so we had to do the work for them, as it is too often.

This is what Mark Jaccard said:

--the Kyoto Protocol is likely to trigger a major economic recession. From what I understand of our legal options for compliance with Kyoto and my knowledge of the energy-economy system, I concur with this conclusion.

He is right. The Liberal way does not work.

[Mark Holland, Liberal, Ajax—Pickering, ON]

Mr. Speaker, the government introduced a deeply flawed clean air act. It sent it to committee for Parliament to fix. Parliament did its job. After much work and compromise the committee approved a bill that would take real action on climate change.

Today we learn the response of the government, which is to toss it in the garbage and to disrespect the House and Canadians who elected a minority government. The Conservatives ditched project green, now the clean air act, and have left us with nothing.

Will the minister now say in public what he has said privately, that he has killed the clean air act and abandoned the work of Parliament?

[Mark Warawa, Conservative, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of the Environment]

Mr. Speaker, we do not support the Liberals' plan and their amendments to it. For example, political interference in setting air quality standards is not acceptable either.

Here is an interesting quote from somebody that was a witness. He said, “It would be devastating for the whole community...It would be suicidal for our economy”. Do Canadians know who said that? Buzz Hargrove.

Justice

[Rick Dykstra, Conservative, St. Catharines, ON]

Mr. Speaker, for too long, victims of crime in the country have felt left out of the criminal justice system, many feeling their concerns and rights are secondary to those of the accused.

My community of St. Catharines and many other communities across the country that bear the scars of atrocious criminal acts have called on Parliament to get tough on crime and give formal voices to victims. Seven years ago an all party committee recommended a voice and the former Liberal government did not listen.

Would the Minister of Justice inform the House on how the Conservative government is responding to these demands.

[Rob Nicholson, Conservative, Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada]

Mr. Speaker, I thank the hon. member for his commitment to the rights of victims of crime. For too long, the rights of victims of crime have not been heard to the extent they should in our criminal justice system. That is why I am glad our government is committed to the office of the federal ombudsman for victims of crime.

In that regard, I am pleased to announce today the appointment of Mr. Steve Sullivan, a long-time human rights advocate, to that post.

The Environment

[Paul Dewar, NDP, Ottawa Centre, ON]

Mr. Speaker, all across Canada people are worried about climate change, worried their kids' asthma is getting worse, worried that year after year the temperature rises, yet the government does not do anything about it.

Yesterday on Parliament Hill hundreds gathered to demand action on climate change. The crowd and all Canadians were encouraged to call the Prime Minister at 613-992-4122.

Did he get the message, or is his political will box full? Where is Bill C-30? Will he bring it to the House now?

[Mark Warawa, Conservative, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of the Environment]

Mr. Speaker, this is the first government in years that is taking action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, to clean up the environmental mess left after 13 years of Liberal inaction. We are getting the job done. They did not.

[Paul Dewar, NDP, Ottawa Centre, ON]

Mr. Speaker, it seems that plus ça change, plus c'est pareil.

Over the past few months, MPs have spent hundreds of hours hearing witnesses and debating on how to fight climate change in Canada. However, it seems the Conservative government does not care if Bill C-30 is ever brought to the floor of the House.

Mr. Speaker, I am asking you today to get a search warrant to see if we can find Bill C-30 and bring it back to the House because the government is not going to do it. I ask you, Mr. Speaker, if you can find it, get it back to the House so we can debate it, get it passed and fight climate change now.

[The Speaker, Liberal, Peter Milliken]

The hon. member knows that questions to the Speaker are out of order, but I see the Prime Minister would like to respond, so perhaps he will answer the hon. member's question.

[Stephen Harper, Conservative, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, I did note the recommendation of the hon. member, that people call me on this issue. I am gathering from some recent press reports that they should be able to reach me without calling at all; I can just hear through mediums.

Finance

[John McCallum, Liberal, Markham—Unionville, ON]

Mr. Speaker, the minister did not count on the fact that his proposal to eliminate interest deductions would cause a mass exodus of head offices from Canada, according to a KPMG report. According to a survey released today, entrepreneurs give the minister a failing grade and there are growing calls for the Prime Minister to clean house at the Department of Finance.

Does the Prime Minister realize that his Minister of Finance is in way over his head?

[Jim Flaherty, Conservative, Minister of Finance]

Mr. Speaker, the economy is strong. We have the highest rate of employment in 30 years. Taxes are being reduced. We have increased productivity.

The member opposite cannot even get his facts right. We have more than twice the number of global leaders with their offices in Canada now than 10 years ago. There is no hollowing out. I can tell members that we have more strength in the Canadian economy.

[John McCallum, Liberal, Markham—Unionville, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I thank the minister for his advertisement for the Liberal government. The problem is going forward because of his measures.

Last week the minister said that the blacked out information was top secret and he ordered the document to be recalled. It is hard to find any information in this sea of black, but right now enlarged versions of this document sit proudly on massive billboards across the country, testimony to the government's stunning lack of accountability.

Does the minister want these massive billboards to be returned to his office, or would he like me to return the document that I have—

[The Speaker, Liberal, Peter Milliken]

The hon. Minister of Finance.

[Jim Flaherty, Conservative, Minister of Finance]

Mr. Speaker, the hon. member, who came from Bay Street, was back on Bay Street on Friday handing out brochures for a golf tournament in Markham—Unionville. That is how seriously he took this issue.

What the member said after October 31 was that it was absolutely the right thing to ensure tax fairness and to work for Canada's productivity. Who else spoke on that? A former deputy prime minister, who said reversing the income trust decision would run afoul of espoused Liberal principles—

[The Speaker, Liberal, Peter Milliken]

The hon. member for London West.

Royal Canadian Mounted Police

[Sue Barnes, Liberal, London West, ON]

Mr. Speaker, the public accounts committee continues to hear conflicting testimony regarding the RCMP pension scandal. Each day brings new contradictions. Even the Conservative former chair of the public accounts committee has admitted he is surprised by the number of people implicated in this scandal.

Will the Minister of Public Safety finally recognize that this issue goes deeper than a powerless investigation and will he call the full judicial inquiry, which is clearly necessary, to get to the bottom of this issue?